And he has created a blueprint for others to follow

This morning, the first post I saw on LinkedIn was from Odell Beckham Junior — NFL superstar and recent convert to the LinkedIn platform.

He congratulated fellow athlete and basketball legend Lebron James for becoming the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, a feat not even Michael Jordan could achieve.

Thank u for providing the blueprint Bron.

Thank u for showing other athletes how to take control of their own image n brand. For taking risks that others would take and showin the world that we are more than just athletes, but business moguls.

It’s an impressive performance from the kid born to a 16-year-old single mother in Akron, Ohio.

He has been lauded many times for his basketball prowess, but now it is time to look at his business skills.

Andy Warhol said that every person would have fifteen minutes of fame. He could also have said that professional athletes would have just fifteen minutes of fortune.

Despite the astronomical earnings of many athletes, the sad story is that the money doesn’t last.

A report by Sports Illustrated makes for damning statistics.

• 78% of National Football League (NFL) players file for bankruptcy or are experiencing financial stress only two years after retiring.
• 60% of National Basketball Association (NBA) basketballers file for bankruptcy or are experiencing financial stress five years after retiring.
• The National Bureau of Economic Research found that 16% of NFL players filed for bankruptcy within 12 years of retirement.

Given the median annual salary of an NFL player is $860,000, it’s an alarming tale. Usually due to a lack of financial knowledge, overspending, and the failure to plan.

As well as pressure from their local community.

Lebron’s childhood journey has been told many times.

He was born to a 16-year-old single mother and lived with a wide array of family members and friends as he moved house 12 times in three years. When he was crowned “The Chosen One” at the age of 18, a lot of expectation was set upon his young shoulders.

“There’s a pressure that comes with being the African-American success story. You are some community’s pride and joy. And that community has protected you. That community has given you free haircuts when you couldn’t afford it. That community has sponsored your football teams, your basketball team.” Humble Lukanga, Waleth Manager for Sports and Entertainment Clients.

Some athletes kept swept up in this pressure and can accumulate a growing entourage of people who have their hands out for money.

Lebron has found a better way to give back to the community by building a model for advancing education and social assistance in the neighborhood where he was raised. He also helps pay for the salaries of some teachers in this area.

It’s a more sustainable way to help the community who helped him and shows why Lebron is such a role model for young people.

“It’s my biggest milestone, obviously. I want to maximize my business.” Lebron James

Athletes can sign lucrative sponsorship deals that boost their earnings.

But what Lebron has done is to ask for equity in the brands that sponsor him, even if it means taking a huge risk. For example, he existed a $15 million deal with McDonald’s to invest with Blaze Pizza Chain.

Lebron invested $1 million into the small chain in return for a 10% share. His $1 million investment grew to be worth $35 million within five years. With Lebron involved and actively endorsing Blaze, it has become the fastest-growing food chain of all time in the United States.

Most athletes would have stuck with the easy McDonald’s sponsorship. But most athletes don’t think long-term like an entrepreneur.

It’s all part of the Lebron blueprint.

People don’t realize the time and energy it takes to perform at the highest level aaaand also have the time and energy to focus on buildin things outside of our sport. Countless hours educating, learning, failing, succeeding. It takes a truly special human to succeed in both. Odell Beckham Junior

Many of you reading this may have started a side hustle. But few of you would have as many successful side hustles as Lebron James. And his side hustles dwarf most others.

His main gig is playing basketball, but he has either founded or invested in several other businesses outside of that.

• He founded the Spring Hill Company, which includes the Robot Company marketing agency, athlete platform Uninterrupted, and SpringHill Entertainment.
• He has a 1% share in Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, and Liverpool. It also has shares in the New England Sports Network and, soon, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• He has equity in Blaze Pizza and a few other companies
• He was an investor in Beats, which Apple bought for $3 billion in 2014, and also has a real estate portfolio.

This shows that Lebron has diversified his interests and spread his risks.

While he undoubtedly has a team of investment advisors, all of these do take time and, as Odell mentions in his post, is something that athletes don’t tend to focus on. He even seeks out Warren Buffet for advice.

“Warren Buffet told me once and he said always follow your gut. When you have that gut feeling, you have to go with don’t go back on it.”

I have written a lot of articles on billionaires.

Searching for business lessons to share with readers. Today, when I read that Lebron was a billionaire, my initial reaction was, so what? There are 2,638 other billionaires, and I’m sure many of them can offer better business advice than Lebron James.

But this rise to the exclusive billionaires club shows not only entrepreneurial lessons but life lessons which I think that anyone with an interest in business can learn from.

There were a lot of negative comments on Odell’s post.

For example, many suggested that he is only a billionaire because he’s good at basketball. But to me, that’s like saying Bill Gates is only a billionaire because he is good at math and computer science.

Basketball opened many doors, but he needed to make wise business decisions, and statistics show very few professional sports people do this.

Diego Maradona was considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time but lost millions of dollars and failed for bankruptcy. Evander Holyfield is one of the most decorated boxers in history but was forced to sell off all of his possessions to pay off his huge debts.

Even when I was researching this article when I typed into Google rich athletes who…the first suggestion that autofill suggested to me was went broke.

It’s a sadly common occurrence.

I want to end this article by saying, while I admire his basketball skills, I’ve never been a fan of Lebron James, the basketballer. I would never have expected to write about him — especially regarding business.

But as an entrepreneur and business writer, I applaud Lebron’s efforts. It’s an inspiring rise against all odds.

And we can learn from his entrepreneurial journey.

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to my free newsletter to see more business stories. You can also be like Odell and connect with me on LinkedIn.